In a case of a liquid ejection apparatus, such as a printing apparatus, if a liquid near a nozzle of a liquid ejection head become dry to increase its viscosity or solidify), the liquid in the nozzle may not be properly ejected as liquid droplets. In order to prevent the liquid near the nozzle from becoming dry, a flushing operation of moving the head to the outside of an ejection area and then ejecting the liquid droplets from the nozzle can be taken into consideration. Moreover, it can be also considered that the head is driven to such an extent as not to eject the liquid droplets from the nozzle to thereby mix the liquid near the nozzle and prevent the dryness of the liquid. In this connection, JP-A-2006-123452 (see, for example, claims 1 and 3) discloses a printing apparatus which includes a pressure chamber and a nozzle communicating with the pressure chamber, and which changes the volume of the pressure chamber at a predetermined period so as not to eject the liquid droplets from the nozzle. JP-A-2006-123452 also discloses a flushing operation which is executed when the nozzle remains rest for a predetermined time.
However, the following problem arises. In a case of the flushing operation, the head has to be moved to a predetermined flushing area positioned outside the ejection area. Consequently, wasteful time is required in order to move the head to the flushing area. In a case where the liquid near the nozzle is vibrated to such an extent as not to eject the liquid droplets, the head has to be driven more minutely and vibrated more number, compared with the flushing operation, in order to sufficiently generate convective flow of the liquid near the nozzle. Consequently, heat is more generated in driving means or an electrical circuit of the head, compared with the flushing operation